8Bit Dimension
by Jupal
Summary: Mal gets trapped in a virtual reality. Hip, hip, hooray! Rating may change. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. It feels great to be back here!**

**My exams are over and this means I have more time to write now! Still, I'm aware I haven't reviewed some stories and replied to some of your wonderful reviews. I'll get to it soon enough!**

**Just so you know, some elements of this story may have ripped off the book Battle Royale by Koushun Takami and the online game Kingdom of Loathing, but I promise the story will get more 'original' as it develops. Also, feel free to suggest stuff (I just might squeeze in your idea).**

**I just hope you'll like this!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Cause of Death and its affiliated characters.**

**xxxxx xxxxx**

"_This isn't about seasons, or about rhyme and reason."  
_- Lights,_ Fourth Dimension_

**xxxxx**

"Malachi Charles Fallon, you have been summoned to the Great 8-Bit Land, where everything is upside down and back to front… almost anyway, by the Even Greater Man to embark on an adventure of your lifetime!" The larger-than-life metallic head levitating on the glowing golden throne boomed.

"How can I trust you when you resemble the Wizard of Oz, who just about cheated everyone?" Mal retorted.

Mal did not understand how he had winded up in this 'Great Land', let alone the grand room of the castle of the 'Even Greater Man', someone he had never heard of before. The only clothes (or rather, armour) he had on now was a gaudy set of a pixel hat, pixel shirt, pixel pants and pixel boots. At least the package came with a complimentary pixel sword.

But the worst thing was that his own body was made up of pixel too.

"Am I in a dream?" Mal felt bewildered. He hated feeling bewildered. It was ridiculous. It wasn't even funny.

In short, Malachi Charles Fallon was pissed.

"How the heck did I end up here?" he yelled.

"I decided you had to learn some life lessons, which you will discover on your great adventure here. Now, if you would just shut your trap and stop fidgeting, I'll brief you on – Okay, I know your clothes suck, but we're facing a cash flow problem and this is the best I can give you! It's our 8-Bit Finery set, one of the best here. Don't show me that face. You're such a brat!"

Mal could have sworn the overly big head of Mr Bighead (as he had decided to label the Even Greater Man) was glowering at him. He finally arrived at the conclusion that he should heed Mr Bighead's advice if he wanted to reach his next birthday. He stood very, very still.

"Atta boy! Stay still like that, no matter what I say?"

The Even Greater Man inhaled deeply (this got amplified as a snort) and continued.

"In this Great Land, you will have to locate Princess Natara Williams, whom I believe is the love of your life. Of course there are requirements for you to fulfil beforehand. Whatever happens to the Princess will depend heavily on every decision you make. Do something wrong and you're out.

"You have to look for three people in the following order: the extremely tenacious Blaise Corso, the highly intelligent Amy Chen and the majestic, moxious Kara Yan." He emitted a sigh. "They will educate you on the different ways of maximizing the potential of your Muscle, Mysticality and Moxie. You will also study the act of Instinct, Observation and Street Smarts. They will assist you in your quest to find Natara Williams. Almost as the end of your journey lies a surprise, just waiting for you…"

Suddenly Mal had a funny vision. _A man in a black suit addressed Mal, "Oh, Malachi Fallon? You're a little early. You've just passed by a bunch of coffins on sale though. Why not have this model? It's a tight fit, but we can offer it to you at a specially reduced price."_ He hurriedly shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"You have exactly seventy-two hours to overcome all obstacles and find the Princess. This castle and its immediate two hundred-metre radius will become a forbidden zone twenty minutes after your departure. If you don't find anyone in twenty-four hours, everyone involved in my little game will die.

"Leave this room and get your day pack from the guard at the door. It contains items that are essential in helping you survive. Do not discard anything."

Mal stood there deep in thought. _So after I leave this castle, I'll check the day pack, then…_

"What are you waiting for? Go. Go!" The Even Greater Man hollered, his giant metallic head bobbing ever so violently.

Mal snapped out of his daze and rushed out of the room. He snatched his day pack from the guard at the door and kept running… and running… until he was finally out of the Castle and its 'two hundred-metre radius'.

"Ah hell," he muttered to himself, feeling dismayed. Running out of there seemed to have taken an eternity. Hiding himself in the bushes, he opened his bright orange day pack ("It does nothing for my looks," he complained) and emptied the contents.

**xxxxx xxxxx**

… **Was that interesting enough? /hides in corner**

**Now, what do **_**you**_** think is in the day pack? ;) Your lovely input is welcome!**

**Next chapter will come out next week. It'll be a filler chapter, but it'll introduce certain elements of the story.**

**Until then, see you around!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Boring chapter here, but you'll learn loads!**

**Review replies:  
maltararox21 (Katie) – Thank you! Well you should read Battle Royale. I believe I've told you about it? And Kingdom of Loathing is an online game that I used to play. Natara won't appear so much in this story until the end though.  
mozzi-girl (Molly) – Thank you! I'm kinda worried Kara will go out of character though; I've never played an episode with her inside. Do offer me your guidance! ;)  
MaltaraFluff647 (Karen) – Aww thanks for the reassurance! I suppose things will get more interesting soon enough…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Cause of Death and its affiliated characters.**

**xxxxx xxxxx**

"Two bottles of water, two litres in total… electronic gadget with accompanying manual… instructions on whatever Muscle, Mysticality and Moxie I may have… a booklet on my pixel sword? Interesting. And these are heavyweights, a plastic plus sign, sunglasses and a notebook with a pen. Just what is Mr Bighead thinking?"

Mal spent what was left of his first hour in the 'game' studying the manual, instructions and booklet.

"This electronic gadget marks out the map of the Great 8-Bit Land in grids. You can also detect the presence of other people, but this works only in the grid you are moving around in. With an appropriate circumference of six kilometers, this is going to be a challenge. This gadget also functions as a compass and a watch. Press the only button available to alternate among the three modes. Remember, this never runs out of battery!"

"Muscle measures both your physical strength and Hit Points (of course you'll have Hit Points like the playable character in a video games!). It also calculates your chances of hitting a monster successfully with a melee weapon. Mysticality reflects your ability to do things mentally instead of physically. It determines your Mana Points which can be used to cast spells, and the damage caused by these spells. As for Moxie, it measures your groove and panache, liveliness and energy, fortitude and determination, courage and initiative… it calculates your chances of dodging a hit, and the damage taken when you do get hit. It also calculates your hit chance with a ranged weapon. These three elements can be developed with the help of the people you find."

"Your pixel sword from the 8-Bit Finery outfit has many functions, which you will discover in the course of your adventure. Although it is enchanted so it can only be held by you, it will turn against you in unimaginable ways if you break a law. Also, if you lose all your Hit Points, you will be Beaten Up for two hours while your sword's powers will be disabled, rendering you defenseless. Fun, isn't it?"

Mal finished reading and decided he should start looking for Blaise Corso if he wanted to get to his Princess at the earliest time possible. He had no idea where to begin though.

_Now then, what's my next move?_

Then a brainwave struck him.

"Aha! I'll check where I am in this damned land, then I'll act accordingly."

Mal activated his electronic gadget. It beeped once and some text appeared on the liquid crystal screen.

"Hello, Adventurer Malachi Fallon! What I'm showing you know is the clue to finding the first person. You may want to copy this down; it'll be shown only once.

"_Where is a tapir happiest in?_

"Study your map carefully and you just might get the answer. This one's really easy. Now you can press the button to view said map. Adios!"

Mal vaguely remembered someone telling him, "I feel as happy as a tapir in a wooded glade!" _A wooded glade? Really?_

Still, it just might be the answer to the clue. It was worth a try.

Now Mal studied the map. True to the Even Greater Man's words, it was divided into grids, 6 times 6. He seemed to be near the northern tip of the island surrounded by sea, with Mr Bighead's castle two hundred metres away from him. There was a giant structure in the heart of the island – perhaps another castle? At the southern tip was a cluster of what looked like houses; that was the residential area. To the west were hills closely packed together. Solitary cottages were atop them. Then there were trees and more trees by the east.

The wooded glade was definitely in the forest at the eastern side.

Mal retrieved his day pack and its contents from the ground, stowed everything away and trudged straight ahead, taking time to admire his surroundings. Aside from the fact that everything was made of pixel (this was very distracting indeed), the Great 8-Bit Land was actually not bad, to say the least. Still, finding the Princess would not be easy.

It was thirty minutes of walking before something horrifying happened.

The skies darkened. Grey clouds began gathering overhead. Heavy gusts of wind threatened to blow Mal off his feet. (Contrary to what one might believe, Mal was no longer as sturdy as he used to be. Perhaps it was because he was now made up of pixel.) He tried to continue moving forward, but the winds just blew harder. Then he found himself lifted off the ground! His voice caught in his throat. Having realized that he was unable to walk any further, the "Help!" that was forming inside died along with his resolve to persevere.

_Well, let's do something fun instead._

He closed his eyes and flew.

**xxxxx xxxxx**

**I promise the next chapter will be long and hopefully satisfying! You have my word.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Review reply to mozzi-girl (Molly):**

**The plot is almost entirely my own! However, certain elements are from other sources. This list is inclusive of, but not limited to:**

**Kingdom of Loathing: Muscle, Mysticality & Moxie, 8-Bit Finery set, plastic plus sign, Beaten Up  
Battle Royale: time limit in game, forbidden zone, day pack, electronic gadget**

**I may or may not have said too much. Eh. Anyhow, thank you! And I'll try to; this story is a good platform to work on my descriptions.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Cause of Death and its affiliated characters.**

**xxxxx xxxxx**

Mal woke up to the sensation of weeds underneath him.

"Where am I?"

He sat himself up with much difficulty and everything came rushing back to him. He had solved the clue. As he was making some progress, the heavy gusts of wind blew him away… to where?

Head throbbing and muscles aching to some degree, he took out his electronic gadget and checked his location on the map. It was surprising the gadget had not broken. Either he would have been completely off-track from his original destination, or he would have struck lottery.

The display on the electronic gadget showed he was on the eastern side of the island, with the star image pinpointing his exact location on the screen.

Mal looked about him. Trees. Grass. Flowers… flowers? He was definitely where he wanted to be. He grinned, looked down at his map again, and found that the star image was now blurred. Instinctively, he waved his pixel sword (which was somehow by his side) behind him and heard a human yelp. The sword flew out of his hands to a few yards away from him.

_Ah hell!_

"Malachi Fallon! Did you just try to kill your best friend?"

Mal vaguely remembered this bloody movie with 'Could you kill your best friend?' as the tagline. But that was beside the point now.

He turned around and found just who he was looking for. Blaise Corso was now sitting up on the forest floor behind him, palms pressing down on the ground. He tried to ignore her poisonous scowl.

"Blaise! Great I found you!" Mal rambled on about his mission, the contents of his day pack and how badly he wanted to save Natara from 'the evil clutches' in a futile attempt to distract Blaise.

"Mal! Listen to me! You were out for four precious hours!" Blaise yelled. Mal shut up and let her speak.

"I'm guessing it's the heavy winds that brought you here. The weather acted up because the Even Greater Man wanted to, uh, spice up your otherwise boring life here. Really, what can you do other than wander around looking for people? Yes, the answer to the clue is a wooded glade, where we are now. Isn't the Even Greater Man creative?"

"Creative indeed," Mal mumbled.

"I found you soon after you ended up here. I'm serious when I say you were out for four precious hours! You got Beaten Up by the winds. They depleted your supply of Hit Points. Somehow it took double the time for you to wake up; it was supposed to be two hours, as I think the Even Greater Man told you before. I've prepared some pixel potions for you, but you can only get them after… learning from me.

"Can we get started now? You look well enough." Blaise raised an eyebrow as she handed Mal a vial of red liquid. "You can have this first. Restores some of your hit points."

"My head is throbbing and my muscles and aching," Mal complained as he gulped down the red pixel potion. It reminded him of maple syrup back home.

"Excuses! Mal Fallon, I've always known you to be physically strong. Well, I've fix you up first, then you can do fifty sit-ups, fifty push-ups and twenty minutes on the treadmill."

"You have a treadmill?" Mal's eyes widened. He looked around again and noticed a funny-looking contraption. "Are you sure _that_ is even a treadmill?"

"Don't ask. I'm just as confused as you are." Blaise tossed him a pack of pills and a container of balm. "Have two pills for your headache. Apply the balm as required. Then get to work."

Instant relief came with the pills and balm, but the exercises took almost an hour to finish. When Mal was finally done, he looked at Blaise expectantly. Once again, she had a poisonous scowl on her otherwise pretty face.

"I'm disappointed in you! It's so obvious you didn't have the sense to work out before looking for me. As a beginner in this game, you only have Level One Muscle, Level One Mysticality and Level One Moxie. That's why you're so weak. Fancy getting blown away by the winds! I insist on spending time to get you up to standard."

"Isn't that what you're expected to do?"

"I'll ignore your last comment," remarked Blaise coolly. Now she held up a leather-bound book. 'How to Train Your Muscle' adorned the cover in gold lettering. "What you're supposed to do now is read the first chapter."

Mal took the book and flipped the pages. The first words that greeted him were 'Dr. Evilbrain Strikes Back'.

"What is this? Blaise Corso, are you sure you're teaching me the right things?"

"Focus!"

Behind the silly chapter name was a long-winded essay on the usefulness of Muscle. It was painful to read. Just as Mal finished and was about to complain again, a bright green glow enclosed him. Power surged through his veins. Shock waves coursed through his body. Then it stopped and Mal felt stronger than before.

It was a pleasant feeling while it lasted.

"What just happened? And give me something more interesting to read, please?" He sighed.

"You leveled up. You're at Level Two Muscle now. And finish that book first."

Mal folded his arms. "Challenge accepted."

Much to Mal's mild amusement, the next two chapters were titled 'Dr. Evilbrain Fights You' and 'Dr. Evilbrain Dies From Your Muscularity'. They discussed techniques to fight just about any monster in the Great 8-Bit Land using melee weapons and the fists, along with methods to heal your hit points. Mal felt the awesome power two times more as he leveled up twice just from reading these chapters.

"I never thought you could finish that book. I'm surprised." A smiled tugged at Blaise's lips. "Geek."

"You made me sit through this torture." Mal gritted his teeth. "And I'm not a geek!"

"Whatever. Now is the time for you to prove you've learnt something. Theory isn't enough, you know." Blaise then lunged at Mal, grabbing his collar. She had him in a headlock in less than five seconds. Mal twisted out of her vice grip and the two got into a rough one-on-one fight. Having attacked Mal by surprise, Blaise had the upper hand here.

That was until Mal's fist shot out and Blaise tumbled onto the ground. Mal proceeded to pin her two hands down on the grass.

He gazed at her. "Look who's won?"

Blaise released herself from under Mal and punched in square in the chest. "This isn't over yet, Malachi Fallon." She stood up and straightened herself out as he lay gasping on the ground. "However, on account of your good efforts, I'm going to level you up and give you your rewards."

Mal felt the pleasant fizz signifying his increase in strength as he did three times before. The difference was that this fizz was much stronger.

"You're now at Level Five Muscle. This is the minimum requirement for you to be able to survive here." Blaise passed him five red pixel potions and two booklets. "That makes you strong enough to develop your Instinct and handle a machine gun. Read the booklet titled 'Instinct' to acquire new skills. Attach the other booklet to your existing booklet on the pixel sword. You'll learn how to switch between a pixel sword and a machine gun any time you want.

"Three hours has passed since you woke up, Mal. It's time I sent you on your way. Here's the clue to finding the next person, Amy."

Mal pocketed the folded piece of paper. "Thanks for all your help, Blaise. Hey, can't you follow me or something? You could guide me along the way."

"I have to stay here. It's the Even Greater Man's order. I'm not allowed to step out of this forest." Blaise smiled bitterly again. "Good luck, Mal."

They shook hands, then Blaise watched as Mal turned and ran out of the wooded glade.


	4. Chapter 4

**Filler chapter here with nothing much to say.**

**I'll be updating less often although it's the school holidays now (yay). Reason is, I have to catch up on my schoolwork. Also, this story has been getting very little readership. I've somewhat lost faith in writing in general but I know I have to finish what I started.**

**Bear with me for just a little bit more, please?**

**Note: Beaten Up actually came from KoL, not Battle Royale. This error has since been rectified. Sorry!**

**Review reply to mozzi-girl (Molly):**

**Heh, thank you! I've always liked memes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Cause of Death and its affiliated characters.**

**xxxxx xxxxx**

Mal paced about the meadow outside the forest in circles, trying to think. When he finally got tired, he slumped down onto the grass and stared daggers at the tiny scroll unfurled before him.

If only the piece of paper was alive! Then Mal would grin sadistically as he ripped it into bits. He realized that would be useless though, and pushed the thought back into the dark recesses of his mind.

The clue read: _Where can a garden be blue?_

How could gardens be blue?

Mal lay down, staring up at the azure blue sky. That was out of the question; the next location had to be somewhere on the ground. Then he looked about him, but there seemed to be nowhere that fit the description.

_You need a new perspective,_ a voice inside his head whispered. _What you really need right now is a nice stroll around the other side of the –_

Then the voice went quiet.

"Other side of what?"

Mal checked the map on his electronic gadget. What were his guts telling him? There were so many 'other sides' on the island. He could go on the other side of the forest, the residential area, the hilly area… there were so many possibilities, he could not fathom which of them the answer was.

_I'll just go for a 'nice stroll' nowhere, then._

He chucked the electronic gadget back into the day pack. That was when he noticed the two booklets Blaise had bestowed on him. He reached into the day pack and held them up.

_Looks like I have to postpone my plans._

**xxxxx**

Mal had grown.

It was not physical growth. Rather, it was his development of skills in the last two hours that led him to experience growth of a very different kind.

Unlike his previously 'newbie' self, he had the power of Instinct. He could actually decide what to do without needing external prompts. His thoughts were also more coherent. Whatever gut feeling he had, he trusted. Now he knew how to proceed on his quest to find Natara Williams.

He must find Amy Chen, the highly intelligent (and probably mystical) being the Even Greater Man had told him about.

Sometime during his reading of the Instinct booklet and honing of his skills, he had what someone could call an epiphany. Sure, it was choppy and there was room for improvement, but Mal was only just beginning to be able to think like… a smart person.

_Gardens are ponds.  
Ponds are blue.  
Therefore, gardens are blue._

That argument was not logical in the first place. Since when were gardens ponds? But then no one explicitly stated instinct had to involve intelligence.

Now Mal stood up and holstered his all-new Ingram MAC-10 machine gun. He had seen one some back in San Francisco, but had never touched, let alone used one. After having attached the relevant booklet to his existing book on his pixel sword, he read the resultant manual and managed to turn his pixel sword into this awesome machine gun (to top it off, there was an accompanying holster too). Then, looking towards Mr Bighead's castle, he started walking.

His newfound instinct had told him it was risky to pass by the residential area for something bad would happen. Just seeing the castle in the centre of the island was even worse; he would be severely punished in ways he did not know were possible before, and he was too preoccupied with other matters to think about this now.

It would be safest to head to the hilly area with cottages, where the gardens there would probably have ponds, bypassing Mr Bighead's castle; he was sure there were no monsters lurking around there.

Maybe it was Mal's increase in strength, but it took him only an hour to get to the Hills. Just as he was about to give himself a private celebratory toast for having survived eleven hours into the game, he noticed something wrong again.

From his point of view, the hills looked twice as intimidating as before. They had appeared deceptively green the other time, but now the grass were falling to the ground at his feet and what was left of the hills were mounds of soil.

"CLIMB THE HILLS AS FAST AS YOU CAN. IF YOU DO NOT COMPLETE YOUR COURSE WITHIN AN HOUR, ALL THE HOUSES WILL COLLAPSE."

_Damn, it's Mr Bighead! Breathe, Mal, breathe. You can do it._

Still, Mal found himself literally quaking in his pixel shoes as the hills began to fall apart.

_Climb! Climb!_

Weird things started happening as he started up the hill to a cottage, which he judged from instinct to be the one he had to get to.

The grass was falling off the hills. Some of said grass started to plaster themselves back to their original positions. The green substance stuck to Mal's body too. In frustration, he hastily took out his Ingram MAC-10, turned it back into his pixel sword and started waving it around to deflect the attack as he attempted to continue climbing.

_Fucking bastard, I'll stab you in your metallic head with this sword!_


End file.
